Display carton



Oct. 3, 1961 R. A. COTE 3,002,722

DISPLAY CARTON Filed Jan. 4, 1960 IIVVENTOR Rayznonci (/4. C0 ie A T TOR/V5 Y United States Pate nt "O 3,002,722 DISPLAY CARTON Raymond A. Cote, Monroe, La., assignor to Container Corporation of America, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Filed Jan. 4, 1960, Ser. No. 184 1 Claim. (Cl. 248-474) The present invention relates to holders for bottles and similar articles which may be displayed conveniently on shelves or counters of retail stores.

A principal object of the invention is to provide a display holder which can be formed of foldable paperboard or other suitable sheet material, the holder being man ufactured for storage and shipment in a flat, collapsed condition and being adapted to be set up in expanded, article holding form quickly and easily by hand and without requiring special tools or other equipment.

Another object of the invention is to provide a paperboard display holder which may be manufactured originally in flat, collapsed form and which may be quickly set up by hand and adapted to receive and hold bottles or similar articles of varying heights and diameters.

Other and more specific objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent as the descrip tion proceeds.

In the drawings- FIG. 1 is a perspective view Olf a two-bottle display holder made in accordance with the present invention, showing the holder in set up condition and showing a bottle placed in one of the sets of bottle retaining openmgs;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of the holder, taken approximately along line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view somewhat similar to the view of FIG. 2 but showing a taller and more slender bottle retained in the holder, and showing the bottle embracing panels arranged in a modified relationship;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the blank from which the display holder is preferably made;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the display holder in a flat, collapsed condition in which the folded panel adapted to engage the lower part of a bottle is held in fixed relation to the rear Wall panel of the holder; and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the collapsed holder taken along line 66 of FIG. 5.

The holder of the present invention is useful in the preparation of attractive displays of bottles of merchandise, particularly cosmetics, in retail stores. The filled bottles and the display holders may be delivered separately to the retailer and assembled by him as desired. The holders, being in collapsed form, will occupy only a small space and limited quantities as required may be set up and the filled bottles placed therein. In certain cases it may be desirable to place the filled bottles in the holders at the plant of the packer. For this purpose the holder may serve efiectively to separate and protect the filled bottles during transportation. If desired, the holder may be used without change, except altering the positions of the panels, for bottles of different sizes and heights.

Referring to the drawings, the holder is preferably constructed from an elongated, rectangular blank of foldable paperboard, indicated at 10 in FIG. 4. The blank is divided into a plurality of panels by transverse score lines. The principal panel 11, for convenience termed the rear wall panel, is disposed centrally of the blank between score lines 12 and 13. A panel 14, defined by score lines 12 and 15, forms an extension of the rear wall panel. A companion panel 16, herein shown of the same size as panel 14, may be folded against the panel 14 and secured by adhesive.

In order to facilitate description of the device rear wall panel 11, panel 14, and panel 16 may be considered as an integral unit when the carton is assembled, and may therefore be referred to as the rear wall of the carton.

The upper holding member :for engagement with the upper part or the neck of a bottle comprises a pair of hingedly related outer and inner panels 17 and 18, respectively, connected along score line 19. The panel 17 is carried by panel 16 and defined therefrom by score line 20. At the outer edge of panel 18 is a relatively narrow attaching panel or ilap 21 hinged to panel 18 along a score line 22.

The panels 17 and 18 are formed with individual openings 23, 23 and 24, 24, the openings of each pair being preferably in communication along the score line' 19, forming what may be termed composite openings into which the upper or neck portions of bottles may be moved by alateral motion as can be understood by an inspection of FIG. 1. By forming the entrance or mouth of each composite opening slightly less than the bottle neck diameter, the bottle neck may be forced into the opening with a small deflection and deformation of the stock at the sides of the opening with the result that the bottle will be retained relatively firmly within the opening, free from liklihood of displacement except when it is desired to remove the bottle from the holder.

' lower holding member panels 25 and 26 may be considered as an integral unit and therefore described as the outer panel of the lower holding member. The narrow panel 26 is hinged to panel 25' along score line 28 and hinged to panel 27 along score line 29. An attaching panel 30 is carried by panel 27 and is defined from such panel by score line 31. The panel 30, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 5 and 6, is secured to the rear wall panel 11 by adhesive. This is preferably restricted to a band or strip spaced inwardly of the free edge of the panel 30 (see FIG. 5) to leave such free edge unsecured and thus permit the flap 21 of the upper holding member to be in serted between this free edge and the rear wall panel.

The panel 27 is formed with bottle receiving openings 32, 32 to engage the lower part of a bottle somewhat above its bottom end.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 6, the arrangement of panels 25, 26 and 27 with respect to rear wall panel 11 is such that, with panel 3i secured to the rear wall panel, the assembled panels may be moved to a collapsed position with panels 26 and 27 lying substantially flat upon panel 25 and the lower end of rear wall. panel 11. Upon movement of the panels to the expanded or set-up form, the panel 25 will assume a right angular relation to the rear wall panel and the panel 27 will assume an upwardly and inwardly inclined position with the connecting panel 26 inclined outward and upward. After the panels of the lower holding member have been thus set up the panels for holding the upper part of the bottle will be moved from their collapsed condition, as shown in FIG. 6, and will be folded to extend outward in V-shape. The flap 21 will then be inserted behind the unsecured edge portion of the panel 34). The holder is then ready to receive its bottles. This is readily done by inserting the bottom of the bottle through the opening 32 and then pressing the neck portion through the mouth of composite opening 23-24. The bottles are thus securely retained in the holder.

If it is desired to employ the holders to protect the bottles during transportation they may be so proportioned that the upper portion consisting of panels '14 and 16 may 3 be folded over to lie against the tops of the bottles as indicated in broken lines in FIG. 2.

If it is desired to retain taller and more slender bottles in the holder, as shown in FIG. 3, the panel 30' will not be secured to the rear wall panel 11 and when the parts are assembled in bottle holding position the panel '27 will be inclined upward at a sharper angle, thus bring ing the panel 39 higher than its position as shown in "FIG. When the flap 21 on the upper holding member is inserted behind the upper edge of panel '30, the angle between'panels l7 and 18 will be more acute than in the arrangement shown in FIG. 2. Thus, it is clear that the identical formof holder may be used for -diiierent sizes of bottles and when a taller and more slender bottle is to be placed in the holder, the panel 3% will merely be left unglued to the rear wall panel.

In order to assure that the flap '21 will be held in accurate register with the upper end of the panel 30, the

latter may be formed with one or more rigid tabs as indicatedat 33, 33 which are receivable into openings 34, 34 formed in panel 18 along'the score line .22. These openings 34 may be formed readily by interrupting the score line '22 in two places and making shallow U-shaped cuts extending into panel 18. When the'flap 2-1 is folded out of the plane of panel 18 the small rigid tabs formed by the cuts will be displaced from the panel 18 and leave openings along the score line into which the tabs 33 on panel 30 may be received.

From the foregoing it is clear that the present invention provides a neat and attractive form of both display holder that is simple to manufacture, that may be stored in 'fi'at, collapsed form until it is needed, and may be easily set up in condition so that bottles may readily be inserted and securely held therein. The holder may be formed to retain only a single bottle 'or aplurality as desired. Additionally, the holder may be employed as an inner packing element to protect the bottles when a number of them are to be transported within a shipping case. -It is obvious that by folding the top portion of the rear wall panel against the bottle tops and by placing the rear wall against the front-of an adjacent holder, the hotf4, t'les held in a closely packed group of filled holders will be held out of direct contact 'with each other.

While the present description sets forth a preferred embodiment of the invention, various changes may be made in the construction Without departing from the spirit of the invention, and it .is therefore desired that the present embodiment be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, reference being bad to the appended claim rather than to the foregoing description to indicate the scope of the invention.

I claim:

A display device formed from a single blank of foldable paperboard, for holding vertically spaced upper and lower portions of a displayed article, comprisng: a ver-' tical ly extending rear wall; a pair of upper and lower atticle engaging members carried by upper and lower portions, respectively, of said rear wall on one side thereof; said members having generally vertically aligned openings for engaging upper and lower portions of a displayed article; each of said members including a pair of forwardly converging inner and outer panels 'hingedly interconnected at their forward edges, the outer panel of each member having its rear edge hinged to said rear wall; a pair of attaching panels disposed between the members and hinged to rear edges of respective inner panels, said attaching panels extending toward each other and having overlapping portions disposed in generally parallel relation with said rear wall; one of said attaching panels being connected to said rear wall, and the other of said attaching panels being removably received between said one attaching panel and said rear wall.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,158,916 Goldsmith Nov. 2, 191-5 1,687,137 Myers Oct. 9, 1928 2,054,355 Anderson Sept. 15, .1936 2,100,223 Reed Nov. 23, 1937 2,460,230 Makrianes Jan. 25, 1948 2805.033 Rous Sept. 3., 1957 

